


Under the Canopy

by JadeAbarai



Category: Lord of the Rings - Fandom, The Hobbit, hobbit - Fandom, hobbit movies, lord of the rings movies, the lord of the rings
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Darkness, F/M, Gen, Lord of the Rings, Mirkwood, Mistakes, Monsters, OC death, Orcs, Other, Spiders, The Hobbit - Freeform, Tolkien, Unrequited Crush, chracter death, magic use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-02-10 15:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18663430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeAbarai/pseuds/JadeAbarai
Summary: Tauriel is tired of the constant battle that she and her people fight daily against the never-ending amount of spiders plaguing Mirkwood. But she has a plan, storm Dol Guldur rid the forest of the nest spawning the creatures. But she is not alone there is powerful darkness lurking in the abandoned city.





	1. Chapter 1

Home. It wasn’t the little nest built high in the canopy anymore, that had been destroyed long ago. It was a dark forest. An evil forest. A forest that was supposed to be a protected sanctuary for them but was now overtaken with the thick twisting vines. Home was now a fortress that protected a deep system of caves, roots, and springs that her people lived in. And every time she neared the bridge that lead to the gates her heart dropped. This was her prison. The horns sounded signaling her arrival and the gates opened welcoming her and her company.  
“Welcome back Captain,” the guard greeted her quickly sealing the gate behind her.  
Inside of the gates, the fortress was a bustle of noise and smells. Tauriel walked down the narrow hall to her barracks, the room was sparsely furnished but it was clean and that is all she cared about. Tossing off her leathers she collapsed on to the small bed in the corner, quickly falling asleep.  
Her slumber was abruptly interrupted by her door slamming open and a familiar voice excitedly shouting her name.  
“Tauriel, you better be awake!”  
She leaned up moving her long red hair behind her shoulder. “It’s not like I could get any sleep with the amount of noise you are causing!” She glared at the dark-haired elf standing before her, he was her lieutenant and her closest friend, Nordil. His cerulean eyes twinkled mischievously in the dark of her room as he moved closer to her.  
“You are going to be so thrilled that I woke you.” he smiled, taking a seat on the floor next to her.  
“What are you talking about?” she asked, concern in her voice.  
“Guess who will be getting initiated into the Kings Guard?” he hinted, his smile widened.  
“No one.” she was utterly confused “None of the forest guards have shown any promise or drive in their training.”  
“He isn’t part of the guard.”  
“Will you just tell me?” she huffed and laid back down. “Or would you rather I just fall back to sleep.”  
“Fine.” Nordil chuckled. “It’s Legolas.”  
Tauriel stared at him for a moment incredulously, then let out a burst of clear laughter.  
“As usual, you have the worst humor. Legolas is a hunter, you would have to bribe the King with all the wine and jewels in the world to even let his precious son near danger.”  
Nordil’s tone turned serious. “Well, Tauriel, he is. And we get to test him tomorrow.”  
Tauriel’s heart started racing. The last time she had sparred with the Sindar prince was centuries ago, they had always been fairly evenly matched. Since then he had been assigned to help with the hunting parties to gather the necessary food for the land.  
“Are you sure?”  
Nordil nodded. “I have already let the others know that we will be having an initiation tomorrow. So rest up Captain, the first to draw blood wins.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken so long to update!! I really struggled with this chapter and fight scenes in general. I would love any and all feedback!  
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Two

     His dawn was filled with a rush of clamoring as he prepared himself for the test. His long golden hair was braided back away from his face that was smudged with the hunter's mark. He gave himself one last pat-down before he entered the sparring court.

      The trees that surrounded the court twisted around the large clearing naturally fencing off the yard from the rest of the barracks. A small gathering of elves had perched to watch the match was about to take place. Legolas tasted the excitement in the air as The Forest Guard appeared. The golden gorget’s that adorned their necks ranked them as the elite fighters of Thranduil’s army. Tauriel raised her hand, and they stopped.

Thranduil’s voice boomed from the canopy, “First to draw blood is victorious.”

      With that Tauriel’s hand dropped and they scattered across the yard. Calgelon and Tornion moved quickly toward the left of him. Hathellas and Tinuher moved to the right keeping under the branches readying their bows. Tauriel and Nordil started down the center, daggers gleaming in the morning light. He was surrounded and he needed to move.

      Legolas moved left blocking Calgelon’s spear, hearing the familiar slice of an arrow flying too close to him. A quick kick to the spearman’s ankle and Calgelon lost his balance just long enough to him to deflect the short sword that was coming down on him. Calgelon rolled to his feet and thrust. The prince stepped back and spun to meet Tornion’s sword again.

_Thwunk_

     Another arrow flew by landing closer to him, panic was starting to set in. Legolas could feel his heart race and he barely dodged to two elves that were now fighting as one. He needed to get away.

_Thwink_

     Another arrow, landing into the tree behind him. Taking a deep breath he steadied his pounding heart. Calgelon thrust as Tornion swung his sword. Legolas came down on Tornion’s sword directing the swing to the ground, blocking Calgelon spear. With a quick jab, Legolas punched Tornion with the back end of his dagger.

     A shout rang out from the crowd “Blood!”

     One down.

     Slashing down he sliced a shallow cut into Calgelon jaw.

     “Oh, come on!” Calgelon held his jaw and sat on the ground next to Tornion.

     Legolas grabbed the branch and shot up, he needed to get off the ground and into familiar territory. Taking shelter up here was better than dodging those arrows down there.

 

     Tauriel watched the young prince climbed up the tree. His reflexes were quick, precise, and well-timed for someone that had spent most of his years hunting the occasional deer or mushrooms. She watched has her two best archers climbed up the tree after him and waited, Hathellas and Tinuher would take care of this nonsense quickly.

_Snap_

     Hathellas fell from the canopy clutching her arm, her face was twisted in agony. Before she could get up, Tinuher landed on her.

     “Blood!”

      Nordil turned to Tauriel, “Well I wasn’t expecting him to get this far.”

     “We move together, don’t give him a chance to retreat.”

     Legolas jumped down to the last two opponents, they didn’t move, waiting for him to move closer. He took a deep breath and grounded himself. He was so close to winning this. He focused on the sounds of the wind running through the leaves and the pounding of the roots burrowing deeper into the earth.

_Now!_

     He raced forward, meeting the two with a flurry of blows. They met each strike moving with easy. Nordil ducked and pushed Legolas closer to Tauriel’s deadly blades. Every time Tauriel tried to land a hit on the prince he either parried to moved out of the way. It was making her blood boil. Nordil sucked in a breath as he backed up toward her. Legolas’s strikes were sparking off of her lieutenant's daggers, she could tell that Nordil was starting to tire. She spun to the side and thrust her blade forward.

     She felt the cold touch of Legolas’ blade against her throat. She looked wildly towards Nordil. His chest heaved as blood trickled down from the gouge across his shoulder. Her face flushed in anger as the prince nicked her throat.

     “Blood!”


End file.
